The Burning Girls

People are made to feel guilty for ‘living a lie’, but who hasn’t hidden parts of themselves from those they love? Because we don’t want to hurt them. Because we don’t want to see the disappointment in their eyes. We talk about love being unconditional, but very few of us ever want to put that to the test.

‘I used to be an atheist,’ he says.
‘Used to be?’
‘Yeah. Fervent. There is no God. Religion is the cause of all evil. We’re just animals. There’s nothing after death. Heaven and hell are just wishful thinking, et cetera.’
‘What changed your mind?’
His face clouds. ‘I had a child, a beautiful daughter … and I lost her.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ I say again.
‘Suddenly I realized all that rhetoric, all that smug, clever conviction, was just bullshit. Because my daughter was not just flesh and blood. My joyful little mess of contradictions. Her glorious heart, her curiosity, her dreams, her vitality and energy. All of that couldn’t just disappear. Like it meant nothing. Like she meant nothing. I have to believe that her soul still exists somewhere. I couldn’t go on if I didn’t.’

You may not able to judge a book by its cover, but you can certainly judge a person by their books